Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to shelving units, more particularly shelving units having a lighting component that illuminates a product and/or provides ambient light.
Related Art
Shelving units are commonly used to display items, whether in commercial establishments or private residences. When multiple shelves are present, the presence of the shelving above the item commonly shields the item from light, making it more difficult to see the item being displayed.
The most common way of solving this issue is by use of lighting. Currently, spotlights are often used. When used with a glass shelves, light often does not reach the lower shelves, meaning that only items at or near eye level are usually seen. Furthermore, such lights have a limited diameter of light and thus will typically only light one item or a small number of items on the shelf, thereby requiring attachment of several different lighting units to the shelf above.
Furthermore, even without a shelf above an item, to properly light an item a lighting fixture must be attached to the wall or some other structure. Similarly, to increase the diameter of effective light of spotlights, the spotlights must be attached to some structure separate from the shelving units, such as a ceiling or wall. Even still, shadows and dark areas will still be present on the shelf.
Some display systems have used LED strips in cabinets, but this can cause each individual LED to be reflected in the product and take away from its look. Similar to the spotlight systems, shadows, dark areas, and bright spots are still an issue.
Wood and metal shelving have long been used, but such shelving units do not allow light through them and thus it is more difficult to light a product effectively.
Other prior attempts at a lit shelf have involved special hardware needed to install the shelf to the wall, or require separate power for each shelf, making it inefficient particularly for commercial display. It would be advantageous if there were a shelf that provided light while being installable in existing shelving systems, and allows the use of differently dimensioned shelves or a different number of shelves without the need for additional electrical infrastructure.